Shieldfield developed in the 18th century as a fashionable suburb just east of Newcastle town.
Separated physically from the town by the wooded vale of the Pandon Burn, Shieldfield offered pleasant surroundings for those that could afford to live in large houses with landscaped gardens. One such early resident was the Armstrong family, whose son William George (later Lord Armstrong) was born in a house on Pleasant Row (now Falconer Street) in 1810.
In 1812, a bridge was built across the Pandon to improve communications with Byker and beyond. The new road became New Bridge Street, still the main west-east route through Shieldfield today.
Pandon Dene began to be filled with spoil from the Victoria Tunnel in 1860, and the extension of Newcastle Quayside towards the Ouseburn in the following two decades transformed Shieldfield into a working class district characterised by street upon street of tenements, terraced flats and houses. The most famous tenement was the Market Arch at the top of Gibson Street. This survived well into the 20th century.
New industries located to the area, including Holmes Electrical Workshops on Portland Road. John Henry Holmes pioneered the invention of the light switch and this factory was at the cutting edge of technology when established in the 1880s. The family also owned a paint works in Turner Street.
Shieldfield experienced another period of profound change in the 1930s and 1940s when much of the old housing was demolished. Shieldfield Green, originally laid out as a public park, was replaced with concrete and tower blocks in the 1960s.
Fragments of old Shieldfield do survive, including Christ Church built in 1860-61. However, Shieldfield today is characterised by eye-catching architecture at Northumbria University’s Falconer Street site, and new residential units for students and key workers between New Bridge Street and Stepney Lane.
Shieldfield continues as a vibrant mix of industry and residential and, in its arts based enterprises at The Biscuit Factory and Boyd Street, the area shares much of the Ouseburn’s forward looking character.